William Parker (8)

We meet Ben Teasdale initially when he is in his fifties, single and gay, but very soon we are in the hands of the young pre-teen Ben during his English prep-school days. We follow Ben as a youngster through prep-school and again, more briefly as a fifteen year old preparing for his O Levels, with occasional interjections from the mature Ben today.

Ben has a privileged yet troubled childhood, he has his own secrets that must not be revealed for fear of humiliation, then there is the secret concerning My England, his favourite teacher which will bring its own problems. His father is rather distant and his mother is very close, but she too has her problems. All these worries build up on the young Ben until they culminated in a notorious episode at school, one for which he will be long remembered.

My initial reaction after the first few pages of reading The House Martin and meeting the regularly inebriated mature and solitary Ben was here is a man I do not have much sympathy for; and when the young Ben took over the narration I wondered if I could take listening to the voice of a ten year old for almost the entire novel. But very soon my opinion changed. William Parker so beautifully captures the tone of the well educated prep-schoolboy that it becomes a delight to read. Ben is a thoroughly endearing lad, open and honest despite the secrets that must be kept. His occasional yet not frequent misuse of words adds a touch of humour to the proceedings (I won't reveal what he misunderstands as cubic!), and makes the earnest youngster all the more appealing.

Even the mature Ben changes during the course of events, and with a better understanding of him as a youngster I found myself empathising with him and caring about him.

After a doubtful start, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The House Martin, it is beautifully written, and captures perfectly the mind and voice of the young Ben. It is an enchanting and positive story, highly recommended.… (plus d'informations)

This book started off with a lot of promise. The opening section had me laughing hysterically, and I thought it boded well for the remainder. However, I felt this was a book that just didn't go anywhere really. It's largely told by 11 year old Ben Teasdale, and he goes into a great deal of detail about his return to boarding school at the beginning of new term.

I think this is a nicely written book, and the author shows real promise, but personally I needed more from the story. I kept waiting for the exciting part to start, but it never actually came and so I was left feeling a little disappointed.… (plus d'informations)

Interesting insights into the life of a boy growing up in the public school system; the haunting secrets he carries with him that impact on his mental and physical health. Whilst I found many of the characters believable there were some who felt either too good to be true or too over the top to be real.

An enjoyable book but I wouldn't rate it in my bestseller list; it lacked the spark that makes me keep picking up a book and I found that there were quite long gaps between reading sections, even though it wasn't difficult reading. I would read other work by the author ... maybe this just wasn't my cup of tea.… (plus d'informations)